PORTLAND, Ore. (COIN) – A jury has awarded a man more than $1.185 million after he was assaulted at a tow yard by a Retriever Towing employee in 2020 – leaving the man with facial bone fractures and PTSD, according to his lawyers.

The attack occurred on July 3, 2020, when Curtis Bunch parked in a handicapped parking spot at Retriever Towing’s Salem location to retrieve his vehicle that was wrongfully towed, according to Bunch’s attorneys of at the Paul Krueger law firm, noting that Bunch is a decorated war hero with a state-issued Permanently Disabled Veteran license plate and a disabled parking plate.

Richard Pinkerton, operations manager at Retriever Towing’s Salem location, confronted Bunch about parking in the handicapped parking space.

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After Bunch refused to move his truck out of the parking space, Pinkerton charged him with trespassing. As Pinkerton left the lot to get a tow truck, Bunch — a concealed carry permit holder — grabbed a gun from the vehicle and put it behind his waistband, Bunch’s attorneys said.

Pinkerton returned to the area, got out of the tow truck and asked Bunch to drop his gun, but after Bunch refused, Pinkerton hit Bunch, grabbed him and threw him across the parking lot, according to court documents.

Pinkerton called the police and reported Bunch as threatening. At the scene, officers handcuffed Bunch and placed him in the back of a squad car, where Bunch had a panic attack and, due to a fractured facial bone, blood began to pour from his nose , his lawyers said.

Bunch was taken to an emergency room where he was diagnosed with three maxillofacial bone fractures. After the incident, Bunch was left with “extreme PTSD,” his lawyers said.

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While Pinkerton claimed he was defending himself after Bunch pulled a gun on him, video of the incident shows Bunch holstering his gun in his back waistband.

After a jury found Pinkerton guilty of fourth-degree assault, Bunch encouraged the judge, “as one veteran on behalf of another,” to include no prison time in Pinkerton’s sentence and instead require Pinkerton take anger management classes.

The judge ended up sentencing Pinkerton to 1.5 years of probation, which includes required anger management classes, along with seven days of house arrest.

Retriever Towing did not immediately respond to KOIN 6 News’ request for comment. This story will be updated if we hear back.

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